


Delusion

by thegleameyesGin



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluffy, M/M, Pottertalia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 15:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4142202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegleameyesGin/pseuds/thegleameyesGin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a single boggart changes their entire lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delusion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nekoclair](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekoclair/gifts), [MayumiSato](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayumiSato/gifts).



> First of all: the idea for this was from a USUK Pottertalia Masterpost, (http://mayumisatosan.tumblr.com/post/104352044267/possible-usukus-plots-to-pottertalia-fanfictions):  
> 02\. Slytherin!Alfred x Gryffindor!Arthur. - Alfred and Arthur are best friends since their first year in Hogwarts and Alfred is pretty happy about it, even if he feels that Arthur is acting a bit weird lately. However, one day, they see their boogarts in the Defense against the Dark Arts class and while Alfred’s is something really innocent like spiders, Arthur’s boogart it’s Alfred! That makes Alfred really angry and offended and he thinks that Arthur feel this way about him because he’s a slytherin, which is a total bullshit. Alfred doesn’t knows that, actually, the reason why Alfred is the main fear of Arthur is because he’s completly in love with him and completly sure that Alfred would never return his feelings so he’s scared all the time about the possibility of Alfred figuring it out and breaking their friendship.  
> Also: english is not my first language, so I'd be happy if you could give me some advice to improve my writing. One more thing: I had to come up with a Defense Against Dark Magics teacher, I was going for Moody but then I remembered all the The Triwizard Tournament shit and thought Nah. So, this other teacher's personality is pretty much like false-Moody's, which means he's an asshole. It's years after Hogwarts Battle; let's say Lily Luna Potter is one year ahead of them at school.  
> Also, if you don't mind, Mayumi-san, this shall be a present for nekoclair. Her birthday was 4th may, and I hope you like it, Clair <3 (and sorry of taking so long kk) (also, sorry for making you name your own present) (omg does this even count as a present?)  
> Oh, one more thing. There’s a story behind Alfred’s owl’s name, but I just couldn’t find a way to put it on the main story so it’ll be on the final notes. Read if you want to kkk  
> .  
> Edit: Hello people, I'd like to thank you all for the comments and the kudos, thanks for the support! I also took the suggestions and edited the text, so a big thanks to InvisibleGerman!!

Okay, so, it all started with a hella big spider. Like, a really big one.

It got out of the suitcase our teacher was keeping until the start of class and, of course, I had to be the first one to fight it. Professor Simon Lewis called it a boggart, but the thing I was seeing now was nothing less than a acromantula, which meant I was completely fucked and I'd rather die than fight it - _and why was I in a magic school anyway?_ The spider started walking towards me, and I just thought, _yep, that's it, I'm a goner_.

“C'mon boy, you just have to say one word!” Mr. Lewis screamed from the back of the class. Ok, he totally wanted me dead.

First of all: don't assume I'm stupid or anything; I paid attention to class and I knew the spell (Riddikulus), but I also knew that it wouldn't actually work unless I was concentrated and secure, which I wasn't at all after seeing that giant fucking spider crawling its nasty legs out of the suitcase, its red glowing eyes glaring at me, all the eight of them. I took a deep breath, trying to convince myself that our teacher would never let that thing kill us – although I had the feeling that he didn't like me at all.

Behind me, Arthur whispered “ _Riddikulus_ ”, probably thinking I had forgotten the spell. “I know” I whispered back, rising my wand and seeing it trembling in my hand. The spider reacted, walking slower, as if waiting to see what I could do with that stick. A little more positive after feeling Arthur's presence behind me, I stepped forward, still trembling, but not scared to death anymore.

“ _Riddikulus!_ ” I ordered, waving the wand the way the teacher told us to do. The acromantula rose and suddenly it was not only wearing a tutu, but also dancing something that could be the Swan's Lake or not. In a way, it was even more scary than seeing it walking towards me, but I'd rather see a ballet-lover-giant-spider than a wanting-to-kill-me-giant-spider. Some of my classmates actually laughed behind me, and then the teacher told me to step back, asking the next girl on the list, Alice something, to face the boggart.

“You did it!” Arthur said, smiling at me as I went to his side. He was next to a girl called Amelia, and still two people away from facing that thing. “Congrats.”

“Thanks. I swear I almost died when it started dancing.” I said, knowing that it'd make him laugh.

“Who'd know you were scared of spiders... That's a nice thing to know, with Halloween coming and all.” Arthur laughed as I pushed him aside.

“Wait and see if you won't be scared as hell when you have to fight that thing. What is your biggest fear anyway?”

“I don't know, guess I'll find out now. And I don't need to fight it, tosser, just get it to make me laugh.”

“Yeah, whatever." We stay quiet for some time, watching our classmates trying to use the spell to win against their fears.

"I think it's really cruel of him, exposing our fears to everyone else." Arthur mumbles, and I silently agree.

"Yeah, but everyone ends up staying quiet about the other's fears, because we don't want them to talk about ours." Amelia whispers. It's now her turn and she looks pretty calm to me, just a little pale.

"Good luck, Amelia” I say and the Gryffindor girl rolls her eyes as she walks to the front of the class. We watch the boggart turn into a big teddy bear with a really creepy smile that keeps saying “Die mommy”. Amelia hesitates for a moment, but then the bear rises and starts _walking_ towards her, and she doesn't think twice before proclaiming the spell. She makes it shrink and say “Mommy I love you”, and then took the toy and throw it on the wall; when she passes through me, she looks a lot more paler than before, maybe a little green. Then it was Arthur's turn. "Good luck" I wish, but turn around right away, seeing Amelia fall by the trash can and throw up, the teacher rushing to her side.

Almost all the class is paying attention to Amelia, so we don't see the moment it happens, the transformation. But we hear Arthur's shriek, and then he has the whole class's attention, and then half of them are staring at me, so I turn around to see Arthur's biggest fear.

Everyone is silent, even Mr. Lewis looks like he's surprised. We all just stay there, staring at _me_. Another me, right in front of Arthur. Well, not exactly me, more like an angry-looking, non-smiling version of me. And it talks.

“So that's how it is.” Alfred, the other one not me, says, and Arthur looks like he's in shock. “That's what our friendship means to you.”

The boggart sounds so furious, so not like me, and it makes no sense. How can Arthur be afraid of something like that? Does he really see me that way?

"How could you, Arthur?!"

“Shut up” Arthur snarl “This has nothing to do with you.”

The other me raises an eyebrow “How come this has nothing to do with me? We both know pretty well this is all about me, isn't it, Arthur?” Not getting an answer, he approached Arthur, getting just too close from him, whispering in his ear.

From where I am I can see Arthur's eyes widening, “Get out of my head!” He screams suddenly, pushing Alfred away and raising his wand. It's pretty strange seeing him point a wand at my face. “ _Locomotor Wibbly!_ ” Arthur screams, but it has no effect. The boggart-Alfred smiles at him.

“Do you really think you can win against me with that, Artie? Don't be so pathetic.”

“ _Stupefy!_ ”

The boggart seems to be having fun now. “Tell me, Arthur, did you really think I'd ever fall-”

“Shut up! _Silencio!_ ” Arthur ordered, a little desperate, and it worked, or at least it looked like it worked.

He's still facing the boggart, trembling and looking paler than usual. Before he can do anything, Mr. Lewis makes his way to the front of the class, and the other Alfred turn his attention to him, his form starting to get foggy. We can only see a glimpse of the teacher's biggest fear, a huge snake, before he screams “Riddikulus!” and force the thing into the suitcase once more. “Are you okay, lad?” he asks, turning around to see Arthur.

“I think I'll puke” we hear him saying, and he falls to his knees, putting the head between his hands; and I make my way to him, forgetting about the boggart for a moment.

“Artie-”

“Go away.” Mr. Lewis says, and I stop, choked. “I don't need another student puking in my class, and you'd just make this worse. Get up, Kirkland, you better go to the infirmary, now.” And then, turning to the rest of the class “Don't you dare moving an inch near that suitcase until I'm back. And prepare your stomachs!” And then he goes away, taking Arthur and Amelia with him.

The moment they're out, all the class is looking at me.

“Dude...” I turn around to see one of the Gryffindor boys looking at me. “That sucks.”

I ignore him and make my way to the back of the class, sitting on one of the desks that had been pushed to the corner, trying to understand what happened. It's true that Arthur had been acting weird lately. He didn't go to the Slytherin table to eat with me anymore, and he was always with one of his other friends, talking about some class we didn't attend together. We still went to Hogsmeade together, he still taught me Potions, but something was off. I'd never expect it to be fear. I'd never expect Arthur to see me that way; the boggard, while being me, was so cruel and cold, if that's how Arthur saw me, then what was I to him? What did our friendship mean to him?

“Thomas Baxter, come here!” Suddenly Mr. Lewis was back to class, surprising everyone. Tommy, a Gryffindor that didn't look like a Gryffindor at all, made his way to our teacher. “Listen boy, I'll be right behind you, nothing will hurt you, so don't end up having a panic attack like those two, okay?”

Baxter looks like he'll faint, but agrees anyway. I can only think that Arthur wasn't the kind of person who'd have a panic attack. He's not the typical Gryffindor, but he's not a coward. He's brave, and he's kind, and I just don't get why he would think of me as someone bad.

People start laughing and I look up to see the Bloody Baron wearing a dress. The teacher calls the next girl, who's boggart is her family dying. One after the other, my classmates win against their fears. They are all normal fears, some of them are afraid of dark, some are afraid of failing their tests, some are afraid of dogs or cats. When the last of them says “Riddikulus!” and make the boggart change, I feel pretty much like shit. A part of me was expecting other people to be afraid of me, maybe because then I'd know I had another persona walking around being an asshole to people, but that didn't seem to be the case. Which means Arthur is the only one who has a problem with me, and I don't even know why.

When the class is dismissed, I run to the infirmary as fast as I can, but when I get there Arthur isn't around anymore - which is strange, since I can see Amelia resting on one of the beds. Not knowing what to do next, I walk to her. “Hey, do you-”

“He probably left 'cause he knew you'd come.” She says. “I don't know what you did to him, but you should apologise.”

“But I didn't do-”

“Yeah, whatever. Apologise, Alfred."

Arthur didn't go to any of his other classes that day. He didn't appear for dinner, either. By the time I went to sleep, I had three thoughts in my mind. First: Arthur is afraid of me, and I don't know why. Second: whatever the reason is, it affects (or can affect) our relationship in someway. Third: he thinks I'm an asshole. And none of those made sense to me.

For the whole day, no one commented about the boggart class. It was some kind of agreement: “I don't talk about your fear, you don't talk about mine, no one talks about what happened with that Slytherin boy and his Gryffindor friend or he may kill us as we sleep”. As if.

I thought that after all this time I’ve already gotten used to people acting as if I was some kind of monster because of my house. During my first year, nobody actually wanted to go to Slytherin because they said it was the villain's house, while Gryffindor was the hero's. When the Sorting Hat told me I could go to Gryffindor, I told him to put me in Slytherin; I thought _I'll show them that there are heroes everywhere_. But now I think that I was wrong. That no, none of the other houses will ever accept us. Even if You-know-who comes back to life and Slytherin kills him alone, they'll probably say Albus Potter was the one just because his father was Gryffindor (and the savior of the world, etc etc).

Arthur and I met at the train, became friends at the train and sticked together ever since. When I was selected to Slytherin he didn't seem to care. After he got into Gryffindor, everything was still fine. We had classes together, I often went to his table to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together, and he did the same, especially last year, when I became a Beater for our Quidditch team. If there was a game, he was by my side. “Eat something” he used to say “take down the other teams beaters and then you win”. Even when we were against Gryffindor, he still cheered me up. The other guys on the team liked him. All my friends liked him. I liked him too. But, as it seemed, Arthur didn't like me at all. Also, that fucker ignored me for the rest of the week.

On Monday I saw him eating breakfast, but when I finally crossed the hall to talk to him, he wasn't there anymore. At Wednesday I found out he was actually paying people to get him food or to help him hide. I tried to bribe them to help me, but it didn't go well. In our classes he was always surrounded by all the other gryffindor kids from our year – and Arthur didn't even _like_ crowds. By the time it was Friday I was even more pissed, confused and completely frustrated. When the owls came I didn't even look, although I was expecting a letter from home, so when Kitty stopped in front of me – stepping in my pudding, none-the-less – I was rather surprised. “Thanks girl” I say, untying the little note that was attached to her leg while she took the bacon from one of the silver platters.

'You got it wrong' is all that is written on the note. I recognize the handwriting and almost immediately look up, trying to see Arthur across the hall. He's actually looking at me, furrowed eyebrows and all; I stare back for a minute and then give up. Rising, I sign the door, going outside, looking back once to see if he’s following me.

We stop by the stairs, face to face, Arthur looking like he’s still not sure if he wants to talk to me at all. Out of nowhere, I get really, really mad.

“Why do you even bother?” I start, looking at him in the eyes. “You finally managed to get away from me. I won't talk you or your friends anymore, if that’s what you want.” I know I sound pretty childish, but I can’t stop myself. For my surprise, though, Arthur is annoyed enough to interrupt my ranting.

He rises a hand and starts with a “As I thought, you got it all wrong.” He sighs. “Look, Alfred, the boggart scene was a misunderstanding, and I'm not afraid of you.”

“Oh, yes, of course. That thing probably looked into your mind and choose to show you the happiest vision you have of me. I saw it, Artie, I was in the room. I saw how you looked at him, at me, and I saw exactly what I looked like for you!”

“Oh for fucks sake!” He shouts. “Let me guess, you've been crying to yourself all week, thinking _'Poor me, Arthur hates me now'_ and, obviously, you think it's because of your house. Don't you? You always hated the fact that I didn’t go to Slytherin with you.”

“Well, I'm sorry for being offended! Anyone would be offended if they found out their best friend's biggest fear was them!”

“But it has nothing to do with the color of your tie, tosser!”

“Then what?!” I breath, Arthur breathes. Now we notice the small audience that gathered, some of our classmates and even my teammates are all watching us, and Arthur blushes, covers his face and turns around, almost running through the front door, and of course I follow after him. He only stops when we are almost at the lake, and I can hear him talking to himself between gasps as we try to catch our breaths.

“Fuck. That's _exactly_ how I didn't want it to be. Why did I even bother, really. _Fuck that boggart_. Also, fuck mister Lewis.”

“You really should stop swearing so much.” I say, sitting on the grass. He doesn't answer me. “How did you want it to be? Whatever 'it' means.” Arthur looks at me, contemplate my words for a second and then sit down too.

“Dunno. More like in the books, I guess. I would be looking cool, not sweaty and desperate. And you'd... Well, you _wouldn't_ be mad at me, at least.” His words only confuse me, and he seems to notice that. “You could forget this, Alfred.” He whispers. “I swear you are my best friend. Our friendship is more than this, I know it.” I stare at him, still not believing he's actually willing to keep it a secret from me.

“No way in hell.” I growl. “I'm not stupid. I hate not knowing things. You know that.”

After a moment, he opens a little smile at me, agreeing.

“Yeah, I know that.” He mumbles. “But it didn't hurt to try.”

“Spill it out.” I say happily, feeling my heart in my throat. He looks away, to the lake, for a moment, and then back at me.

“I love you, Alfred.” He splurts, and then stares at me for a second or two "I love you and I was afraid you'd hate me because of that. That's it, thanks for listening.". Suddenly he’s on his feet, walking back to the castle. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to process that information.

Thinking over, he had been acting pretty strangely lately. He _did_ stop going to my table after some of my friends started making stupid jokes about him, and he started walking around together with a lot of the other Gryffindor kids, and they all stared at me when I tried to approach him. And he actually helped me out with Potions, even though he hates it just as much as I do, and is as bad at it as I am. And his boggart was nothing more, nothing less than me, getting mad at him for something. For liking, no, _loving_ me. Arthur loved me.

Wait. What “... the fuck.” I look around, seeing Arthur already climbing the stairs to the castle. _That little shit, running away_. No way in hell I'd let him go like this. Rising to my knees, I take my wand out of my pocked and aim it. “ _Locomotor Mortis!_ ” I scream and Arthur falls almost instantly. While I run to his side, I appreciate the sight of him extremely red and cursing, when he realizes that I was the one to jinx him.

“You little fucker!”

He screams before I stop him with a “No, Arthur, now it's _my_ turn to talk!” I let the silence reign for a moment before starting. “First of all: does that mean I get chocolate in next year's Valentines?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading it all :) I hope you liked it. The bonus is totally random, I know. I hope you like it xD  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Diagon Alley - Eeylops Owl Emporium  
> “I don’t want an owl, mom! Why can’t I get an eagle? They are so much cooler! There must be a way to get them into Hogwarts!”  
> “Alfred, sweetie, don’t be ridiculous.” His mother answered, looking around. She wasn’t really paying attention to his ranting, and that just made Alfred a lot more angrier. “There are lots of pretty owls around here. Look at that one! Isn’t it cute?!” The owl she pointed at was all but cute. It was big and had orange eyes and looked pretty pissed, being locked like that. Listening to her, the salesclerk didn't miss his opportunity.  
> “Oh, you have a good eye, miss! This beautiful girl is a Eurasian eagle-owl, and she’s pretty nice too.” His mother stops listening at the EAGLE-owl part, turning around to look at Alfred, clearly too excited.  
> “Did you hear that, Al?! It’s an Eagle-Owl!”  
> “Not an eagle, mom! It doesn’t even look like an eagle!”  
> “Well, it’s the closer you’ll get to one, dear. We’ll take her, please.” She says, without even bothering to hear Alfred’s protesting screams.  
> On their way back home, Alfred keeps looking at his new mascot, clearly displeased. “I don’t like you at all.” He whispers to the owl; for his surprise, it blinks it’s big orange eyes and hoots once, sounding pretty offended. They stare at each other, and then Alfred tries again “You’re not cute. You are a strong, scary predator.” The owl stares, and then hoots again, as if agreeing.  
> It took him half a day to start loving her.  
> “Owls are nice.” He tells his mother that night, before going to sleep. The owl is on the floor, right next to him. After getting away of its cage, she followed Alfred around the house all day, as if trying to please her new human friend. “They’re like cats, but with wings.”  
> “Did you name her already?” She asks, kissing his forehead.  
> “Yes! Wanna hear it?!” He waits his mother say that yes, she wants to hear it, then he takes the owl, and rises it before saying “Her name is, now officially, Not An Owl But A Cat-Eagle! Say hi.”  
> His mother stays quiet for a moment, before asking “What’s her name again?”. The owl hoots and Alfred snorts. After a moment of struggle, it manages to get away from the boy and flies to her pole.  
> “Of course it’s too long, so I decided to call her Cat-Eagle for short!” The boy says, and Cat-Eagle hoots again.  
> “Sweetie, I don’t think...”  
> “Relax, mom, she likes it. Just watch this! Cat-Eagle, c’mon!” Alfred screams the last part, rising his left arm. The owl promptly takes flight, crossing the room in an instant and easily landing on Alfred’s arm. “See that? We’re already in sync!”  
> “... Well, that’s good for you two, but I can’t bring myself to call her that way.”  
> “But mooom-”  
> “I’ll call her Kitty, how about that? It’s cute and easy to remember.” Both Alfred and the owl make displeased sounds, but are ignored.  
> "Now, how about Kitty and you go to sleep. It's late, you know."  
> (By the time Alfred gets into King’s Cross, everyone is already calling her Kitty, her eagle origins completely forgotten.)


End file.
